Material costs of and greater precision in club manufacture, along with technological improvements, have all contributed to the increased costs in recent years of quality golf clubs. Such increases have been particularly notable for so-called xe2x80x9chigh techxe2x80x9d putters with their milled faces and special alloys which, at least in some instances, are significantly softer than the metals used for other clubs carried in the same bags. Manufacturers of the newer putters sometimes supply them with covers to protect their faces from scratches and nicks, but it has been observed that many golfers strongly resist removing and replacing headcovers for putters each time such clubs are used.
Golfers often find the need to use towels to clean their golf balls when they arrive at the greens. Such a need, considered in combination with the desirability of protecting expensive putters against scratches and other damage, might suggest that the two functions could be combined into a towel that also serves as a headcover. While combination towel/headcover products have been known in the past, it is believed that the need for a satisfactory dual-purpose product has not been adequately met by the prior art.
In general, it is believed that dual-purpose products have had one or more notable shortcomings, including relatively expensive construction that is not well suited for frequent laundering and rugged use, inadequate size for functioning effectively as a towel and, in particular, design features that render such product awkward and even inconvenient to use. For examples of the prior art, reference may be had to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,831,652, 5,146,968, 5,769,141, 5,394,914, 3,938,570, 5,297,603, and 5,322,105.
One aspect of this invention lies in providing a combination towel/headcover that is relatively easy to use, keeping in mind just how such a product would be likely to be handled in actual use. A golfer requiring the use of a towel to clean his/her ball prior to putting would be expected to drop the towel on the green after ball cleaning and prior to putting. The combination towel/headcover of this invention may be easily picked up after putting is completed simply by hooking the head of a putter into an external side pocket at the towels"" upper end. The same pocket receives and protects the head of the putter while that club is carried in a golf bag, with the towel/headcover being supported by the putter in such a way that its towel portion drapes downwardly along the bag""s outer surface. Subsequent removal of the towel/headcover from the putter is easily accomplished without requiring the manipulation of zippers, hook-loop (Velcro-type) fasteners, or other fastening means. Because of its folded construction, which involves at least two and preferably three folded sections, the towel portion provides relatively large surface areas for ball and club cleaning. Further, because the towel/headcover is formed entirely of soft, absorbent toweling material, it is relatively inexpensive in construction and well suited for conventional laundering.
Briefly, the towel/headcover combination of this invention takes the form of a generally rectangular panel of soft, absorbent fabric having top, bottom, and side edges and being folded along at least one longitudinal fold line to provide two, and preferably three, folded sections of fabric. Those sections are secured together along the top edge of the panel.
The headcover/towel combination includes both a towel portion and an integral headcover portion. The headcover portion essentially comprises a flap composed of the upper portions of the superimposed sections together folded downwardly about a transverse fold line to define a downwardly-facing side pocket. The towel portion comprises the folded panel sections extending downwardly below the entrance to the pocket, with the towel portion constituting the major length of the absorbent panel and being unfoldable in use for purposes of ball and club cleaning.
The side margins of the pocket are closed by stitching, sewing, or any other suitable means. The mouth of the pocket formed by the downwardly-folded flap is preferably elasticized so that it puckers into partially-open condition to facilitate the insertion of the tip of a putter, and the lifting of the towel/headcover from a ground surface, when the product is in use.